Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo fired after shooting at Robb Elementary School

The Uvalde School District Police Chief was fired after allegations that he made a mistake in responding to a mass attack on Robb Elementary School in Texas that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Uwalde Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harel said he had fired Chief of Police Pete Arendo and another officer would take over as chief of the fighting.

In a statement, Mr Harel did not comment on the whereabouts of Chief Arendodo, but said it was unclear when local officials would find out the outcome of the investigation into the shooting.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steven McCroy told a State Senate hearing Tuesday that Chief Arendodo, the on-site commander, had made “terrible decisions” as the May 24 massacre unfolded.

He said the police response was a “major failure”.

Three minutes after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered the school, several law enforcement officers were on the scene to stop the gunman, Col. McCrow testified.

However, police officers armed with rifles waited in the school corridor for more than an hour, while the gunman carried out the massacre.

Col. McCraw said the classroom door could not be locked from the inside, but there was no indication that police officers tried to open the door while the gunman was inside.

According to Col. McCraw, parents begged police outside the school to come in, and students in the classroom repeatedly asked 911 pilots for help, with more than a dozen police officers waiting in a hallway.

Officers from other services urged Chief Arredondo to let them move because the children were in danger.

“The only thing that prevented a corridor of dedicated officers from entering Halls 111 and 112 was the on-site commander who decided to put the officers’ lives above the children’s lives,” he said.